The Saints are scheduled to face the Carolina Panthers when the team returns from its bye week.
Leading New Orleans’ NFC South rival is former Saints backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater who’s led the Panthers to a 3-2 record this season. Saints coach Sean Payton said his former player is doing well.
“It's good to see him doing well and it's not a surprise,” Payton said. ”We'll have a chance now to dive into their film. But listen, he's a fantastic leader, a real good player and you wish he had gone out of the division."
Payton said he’s seen highlights of Bridgewater and some of the Panthers on film because of Carolina’s Week 3 matchup with the Chargers who the the Saints recently prepared for and was impressed.
“He's a very good leader, he's witty, he's got a smile about him. And he's easy to follow,” Payton said. “Players want to follow him. He picks things up real fast. All the above. Those are all traits that have served him well."
The Saints acquired Bridgewater via a trade with the New York Jets prior to the 2018 season. He served in mostly a backup role until he was called on to fill in for an injured Drew Brees in 2019.
Bridgewater went 5-0 in those games and Payton said the Saints would have liked to keep the former first-round pick but the franchise knew he would be difficult to retain after his performance in those games.
”The timing this offseason was going to be difficult, period,” Payton said. “Like that, just sometimes you can't control that relative to his opportunity, and to where we were. But yes, when you bring a player into the building, you are bringing them in for a number of reasons. And, again, we felt like he was a young talented quarterback, that the biggest question was his health and we felt like we saw or that was answered in the preseason. We're in that business, that we think that we can develop that position and I think that's important."